So a few months ago I went down the rabbit hole looking at Flex Fuel options to tune my car. I knew DSX had figured it out so I reached out to Dave with some questions based on information Inhad received from others in the industry. What I ended up discovering is that although he has a great kit and solution for flex tuning, it would require me to have it installed at a DSX authorized installer. I did not like this idea, however I was willing to accept it and go that route. Upon contacting my closest installer, which is Paragon, they informed me that they could take care of my install, however they could not provide me with the modified file, I would be married to a DSX installer for tuning. At first I though this was BS so I reached back out to Dave at DSX as well as a friend of mine that is a DSX installer and found that this is indeed the case and the installers are required to sign an NDA to carry and install this product.

Now I completely understand not wanting your product ripped off, but being married to a tuner that is 5 hours away from me was not an option. I absolutely love the products and innovation that DSX has brought to market and am eagerly awaiting the Atlas controller for the C8, but this solution simply did not work for me.


So back to the drawing board I went, I reached out to all my industry friends and tuners that I know and I got a tip to reach out to Justin White. This ended up being a very productive conversation as he was able to provide me with a proper modified file that enables Flex Fuel. Of course this comes at a cost, but worth every cent! Mind you this is a DIY solution. It was up to me to create the plumbing and wiring to make it work.


So I sent my tune file off to Justin, paid him what I consider a very reasonable amount, and quickly received a modified and functional file that enabled flex fuel.

With Justin痴 assistance, photos I致e seen of the DSX kit, and way to much time surfing the internet for the proper electrical connectors, I was able to create a plug and play plumbing and wiring solution.


We all know competition in this industry is good, it drives down prices or makes parts more accessible. I truly wish DSX would have offered a similar solution, I would have thrown my money at them without hesitation and saved myself a lot of time. However, I refuse to be married to an out of state tuner that I have zero experience with, so here we are!

We all know feelings get hurt easy in this industry, so I do not want to name names. To those of you who helped me with this journey, you know who you are and I have extreme gratitude for each of you!

 

Justin is a great tuner and well known in the industry. He tunes a lot of drag cars and high hp street cars and tuned a lot of Magnuson Lt based Camaro's and Corvettes with TooHighPsi Port Injection which I've had on a couple of my Lt1 Camaro's. It's too bad is cost so much just too lightly mod the C8s. I have HP Tuners since I've done a lot of tuning on my own cars with the help of Mike Sitar who used to be my boss when we worked for Magnuson from 2017 to 2020. I've done some logging on my C8 when I started running E30. I used to think just unlocking the TCM was expensive on the A8 and A10 transmissions, but the unlock of the ECU for the C8's is crazy at 1500.00. Glad to hear your making progress and you have a great tuner helping you. Keep us up to date on your progress.

 

So, did you use the connector that provides power to the flex sensor via coil? And pin out the Flex wire to the computer? I am going down this rabbit hole too, but don't like the idea of a locked PCM either.

 

I've had a couple friends that got the tunes done by a shop and they locked the tune. That should be the first thing you ask the tuner before you commit. If they do find someone else to do the job. They want you to be totally dependent on them for this tune and future tuning. However, if they do a shitty tune that you're not happy with and you want someone else to tune it then someone has to unlock that tune again. Ask questions, don't get a big surprise, because they probably won't tell you.

 

That's why I'm asking, I don't want a locked tune.

 

No, it gets power, ground, and signal from a a single connector. I made a 100% plug and play harness.

 

Agree. Have you had yours unlocked by HP Tuners yet so it can be tuned? That 1500 bucks is the initial first big cost, plus pulling the ECU out and then shipping it for 100 bucks. That's probably why for now I'll just run E30 when its warm, maybe do a ported Lt2 intake, 95mm TB. I wish it was as simple as my C7 was, GM tried to make it hard for sure.

 

Justin has been great so far. The modified file he provided me worked as it should and he is helping me troubleshoot some minor issues. Nothing but great things to say. The actual tuning will be done by a close friend of mine who is also a well respected tuner in the industry.

 

I just got my intake back from GPI, freshly ported, hasn稚 been ran. I may be going to the PTR. If you池e interested in it let me know.

 

Nice job. maybe do a write up on the installation. Thanks

 

If you didnt have to do a pinout from the computer, PLEASE do a write up!!

 

No, it痴 literally just a plug.
Aside from sending the computer out to be unlocked, you don稚 need to touch it or cut/splice any wires.

 

Well, you might as well start building them along with the GM FF sensor, I bet you can sell a bunch of them.

 

I had a GPI on my 22 Camaro before I went to the MSD, I didn't see that much pickup between the two, so I think porting the Lt2 is the best value. Which intake are you talking about? Is it a Paragon?

 

ptr

 

Are you doing anything else to your LT2? An LT2 on E would love an increase in static compression ratio. A mild mill of the heads along with a slightly thinner head gasket got me a bump from 10.7 to 11.4 on my last LS3. With a very mild cam (226/234 115+4 with .620 lift) and ported top end, it did 500 at the wheels. I was thinking of doing something like that on my C8 but am clueless as to what would/wouldn't fit regarding cam selection and piston to valve clearance issues.

 

Yes, I just bought another set of factory heads, they are cheap! $289 each new. Those are going to be ported and have a nice valve job cut. I ordered a set of LT4 Titanium intake valves and will be using the factory sodium filled exhaust valves that came with the new heads. Springs are BTR .660痴.

I have not decided what cam I am going to run yet, so that will ultimately determine how much I can mill the heads, however I知 not opposed to flycutting the pistons. I壇 like the compression to land around 12.5, it still needs to be pump gas friendly.

That will be my project for next winter.

My plan for this year is to just get it up and running with bolt ons and tuned on E85.

 

so there is a connector that goes top the car that you can enable to read the flex signal and provide power? Where might that be?

 

Did you end up buying a GM FF Sensor? DSX?

 

The calibration change re-purposes the drivers side AFM exhaust valve plug for flex fuel.